you think as a consumer right there. try thinking the opposite way, as a business, and that might make sense. you dont want to get ripped off by some asshat that just want a second copy to resell (hi ebay).

And never forget:
When a company throws out replacements willy-nilly, then this automatically means that everyone else is paying for those replacements including said "replacements" (a company always calculates those into the price).

Yes, making a photo wastes some time. But it's not like Zavvi damages those intenionally and I have to give Zavvi high marks on the packaging and single item shipping, especially compared to how Amz ships them (tons get broken).

For zavvi replacements I know what to do. Attach photo(s). Ask them kindly for a replacement and tell them that I explicitly don't want a refund.
Worked for me every single time.

Had to sign one of those papers a single time for a missing 90 GBP box set, which showed up a few weeks later (and then I contacted them and paid for the replacement too).

Fun fact: I had to send Amz IT a photo as well. Got a replacement easily afterwards though.
Amz FR however doesn't offer users any way to upload a photo, obviously use some silly algo on the text asking for a replacement and then tells you to send it back for postage costs higher than the item itself, although its badly damaged. Insanity.

you think as a consumer right there. try thinking the opposite way, as a business, and that might make sense. you dont want to get ripped off by some asshat that just want a second copy to resell (hi ebay).

providing photo of a broken product take 10 seconds. if you cant take 10 seconds to get a replacement, there's something wrong with you.

Yup. This. Too many people these days are nefarious and looking to take advantage wherever they can do so. Especially because they could effectively get all of their steelbooks for free this way (buy 2 for 1 and use the 2nd to cover the cost of the 1st -> if not make profit off of it). If getting a second copy was as easy as saying, “it was damaged and I want another one,” then half of their stock would be “stolen” from them and they would stop selling steelbooks altogether.

I have had shipments not arrive after 1 month, request the refund, have the refund issued, have the item show up after 2-3 months, then contacted them to repay for it. It’s only right to do so.

I don't know if this is the right place for this (if not, or if there's already a topic dedicated to this, please close), but I feel it's becoming an issue that needs addressing.

For those not in the know, Zavvi recently changed their steelbook mailers - they used to ship them in sturdy cardboard boxes, with the steelbook inside wrapped in a thin layer of polystyrene. It wasn't the greatest, but it did the job when it comes to getting them undamaged more often than not.

Most recently, they switched to extremely cheap, flimsy paper envelopes - with absolutely NO protection of any kind. No bubble wrap, no polystyrene wrap, nothing. And predictably, everyone's stuff is arriving damaged.

I've caught a bunch of posts on here discussing exactly that, but outside of this site, I'm noticing folks on twitter and reddit complaining about it as well. On twitter especially, Zavvi's response has been....less than lacking. If anything, it's outright insulting: I sent them a DM a couple of days ago and still no response, while their feed is bustling with activity.

So I'm making this thread in the hopes that together we can do something. Illicit some kind of response from them, hopefully work towards fixing this mess: Even if they're saving money on the mailers, I can't imagine Zavvi is feeling terribly awesome with the record number of damaged returns/exchanges/refunds they're getting from this.

Even the old white boxes you would get damage. Sometimes the boxes themselves look perfect so that meant it was messed up before shipping. I get more stuff damaged from Amazon than Zavvi though. That’s the gamble we take when we import or even when we chose to ship in the US

I'm pretty much done with Zavvi. My last two had damage that was quite insignificant, but still there. Not going to dick around with them for weeks or months shipping product back & forth when they are now not even protecting it at all. Amazon no better. I won't get any BB steels anymore either unless I can get it shipped to my store where I can open it in front of them.
I just going with premium retailers or ebay maybe. At least they try to earn my money.

Even the old white boxes you would get damage. Sometimes the boxes themselves look perfect so that meant it was messed up before shipping. I get more stuff damaged from Amazon than Zavvi though. Thatís the gamble we take when we import or even when we chose to ship in the US

At least Amazon uses bubble mailers lol. Zavvi can't even be arsed for that much.

That worked out for me always (only had to use it twice or so out of 1000+ orders).

Good to hear, thanks, and (though they haven't got back to me apart from the auto-response yet - I only opened it about 8pm last night) this is the first time I've had one damaged; my Avengers Assemble and Avengers: Age of Ultron 4K steels arrived - also yesterday (very expensive week!), in (thankfully) perfect condition; and boy did I check them carefully after opening this one first!

Also, to be fair, despite all the (legitimate IMO) complaints about Zavvi sending out steelbooks in packaging that isn't good enough to protect them the damage shown was all under the cardboard quarter slip AND THE CARD OVER IT WAS PRISTINE.

You couldn't possibly apply enough pressure on a single point to crease the steel like that without creasing the nice glossy card over it so there was no way this could have happened when Zavvi packed it into the envelope or in the post - it had to been damaged in the factory before being placed in the slip and sealed.